Thursday, February 12, 2009

This really isn't an attempt to make some kind of vegan crab cake. I thought some Cajun food would hit the spot, but I was also in the mood for some chickpeas (weird craving). I kept these mild for the kiddies, so you can spice them up as you see fit.

2. Place chickpeas in a food processor along with the onion mixture. Pulse until chickpeas are no longer whole, but dont process them too much. Place chickpeas in a bowl and add spices, hot sauce, and parsley. Mix well. Add flour and cornstarch and mix well. Place in the fridge for 30 mins.

3. Heat oil in a frying pan over med/med-hi heat (around 350 degrees). Shape chickpea mixture into 12 patties and fry in batches, about 2-3 mins per side, or until crispy and browned. Flip a few times if they are browning too quickly. If you have trouble forming the patties, add some more cornstarch to hold it all together.

These sound (and look) fantastic. I think I might try them out this weekend. I was going to make Dreena's Chickpea Sensation patties, but I think I'll make these instead. Thanks for the great recipe Vegan Dad!!

JD,The reasoning is simple. I didn't give up meat because I thought it tasted bad, or because I didn't like the texture. Instead, I gave it up for ethical and moral reasons. So, why not recreate dishes I used to love, but without killing any animals?

Okay and yea for Vegan Dad! I'm making it! What a great find here...I'm posting your site as a favorite...love the food...and I'm in serious need of inspiration. Okay my family is bored with my meals of late... yogi affection from Oasis in Puerto Rico <3

Hi Vegan Dad again. I wanted to tell you that I added you to Oasis blog roll. I think some of my readers would be interested in your vegan dishes! I tried the chickpea pattie idea, unfortunately they tasted raw inside. Could you give direction about the oil...how do you know that it is the correct temp.? I think it was too hot...one side was burned the other stayed soft...so they absorbed too much oil...a disappointment. I want mine to look like your picture! Please advise.:-(

Hi Vegan Dad! i am so happy to have found your blog! My 18 year old daughter has been a vegetarian since 8 and this year decided to go all the way to veganism so your ideas are very helpful. I love your response to JD regarding the fake meat question. Why do people try to find fault with vegans? Do we nit pick omnivores that don't eat liver for not being a "real" omnivore? I don't think so! Thanks again for sharing all your great ideas.

Anon,I used a 19oz can of chickpeas, though I don;t think it would matter if ut was a bit more or less.

Cynthia,Generally 350 degrees is optimum heat for frying. For me and my cermaic-top stove, it's between med and med-hi. If the oil is too cold, the oil will get sucked into the patty. Too hot, and it burns. My advice: slowly add the patties so the oil temp does not drop too quickly. Monitor the patties. If they are browning too fast, flip them a few times throughout the frying process. And, find the "sweet spot" on your stove for frying.

I made these last night and billed them as faux crab cakes....they were a hit. My only complaint was that I was only able to get 8 decent sized patties from the recipe, and my 2 year old ate 3 of them. I'll have to double the recipe next time!!!!

I doubled the recipe when I saw how much I had-I used 2 cans of chickpeas. They were delicious and I had no trouble with them falling apart. The time in the fridge helps and they were delicious with ketchup, my sons new favorite thing.

These were alright. I made 12 bite sized burgers and I baked them. They may have lost some of their crab cakiness as a result, but my jeans still fit!! They were a hit and taste great dipped in salsa verde!

I know this was a long time ago in this thread but it drives me crazy when omnivores question the fact that we like to imitate meat. No one says to Diabetics "Ok, so let me get this...you can't eat sugar but you still like sweets so you imitate it?" or to those with celiac disease "You can't eat wheat so you make pasta out of rice?!" I don't know many vegans who don't like the taste of meat. Not only that but why should we have to invent all new foods that no one has a reference point for? I know a veggie burger isn't going to taste like a burger made out of meat; it's just a food we're all familiar with so we know what the recipe is for. I guess it's true what they say about common sense not being all that common.

Oh and P.R. (post-rant) Going to make this recipe right now...looks great! Thanks.

These Cajun Chickpea Cakes were totally yum! I added extra thyme, paprika, doubled the hot sauce as well as added a half teaspoon of dried chilli powder. I served them with rice (with herbs that echoed the flavours in the cakes) and made a semi savoury peach and coconut sauce to go with them...I know it sounds strange but worked well...omni hubby loved them.

Yum! I made a few batches of these tonight, as I had a bunch of chickpeas to use up.

One batch followed your recipe to a T. The second batch, I used Old Bay Seasoning instead of paprika & cayenne. The third batch I did half your recipe and half Old Bay, and added nutritional yeast to both. All were fab.

It definitely is a versatile recipe. I would imagine you could use different types of beans, as well.

I made these last night. I added a jalapeno for more kick. At first my patties were a too moist (I think I was too heavy on the pulse button!) so I added some bread crumbs. Came out tasty! Will definitely make again.

We had these a few days ago, and they are really yummy, made them thin to increase crispyness...this is good stuff! I love Vegan Dad's Blog because when the 'wwaahhh whats for dinner' drama starts in all its gloomingly bland, fear-we-all-going-to-starve glory, a quick flick through this Blog will save the evening.

Made these tonight. Were a HUGE hit in my house with 4 small children and mom and dad. Made as directed but added 1 slice of vegan ww bread crumbled. They were fabulous! And I made them with cajun rice. Thank you so much. I love your recipies!

These are officially my "go-to" recipe for when I want something delicious with ingredient I always have on hand. The boyfriend makes a great parsley-based dressing and with that we serve this over mixed greens. Great! Thank you.

I loved these and so did my family. Next time, I will use my fry-daddy instead of the stove, I didnt have the heat up enough and the first few just sucked up the oil and fell apart. After turning the heat up a notch, they were perfect. My husband and I both love chick peas, thanks so much!

I love your blog and your recipe book. I am going to make sure I have the $ and I am soooo getting one of these. I am going to do a post about your page on my blog. Thanks for a unique and interesting set of recipes that even I can follow. I am not vegan, but many of my friends are. I would love to include a bunch of vegan friendly options for them on my dinner table or at my next party.

I made these on Friday for a Vegan Friend of mine and a impromptu dinner for 8 people. The entire meal consisted of Salad from our garden, your crispy Cajun Chickpea Cakes, Vegan Mac and Cheeze, Corn on Cob and Brown rice. It was Amazing. And in response to the anonymous reply above having trouble with making this bind....I had no problems with the recipe, I probably went more Eyeball than actual measurements and doubled up on the chickpeas and veggies. The Chickpeas are pretty sticky so it didn't need as much of the flour and CornStarch. Also I noticed that your ingredient list mentions the green pepper and your Instructions mention a green Onion. I put a red pepper and some chives and didn't really care about the difference, but I was curious about which one you meant to put in the recipe.

So this is one of those things where I see one can of chickpeas and I'm like hmm...what kind of can. And then I get six patties instead of 12 and wonder if you meant a big can. But they are super sticky so I feel they'll be excellent baked!

My question: I'm planning to modify the recipe, creating a mini layer cake (chickpeas on the bottom with two additional layers, and a sauce). I plan to add lentils to the chickpea cake and change up the spices, I'm *still* stuck on what the other two layers should be. All I can come up with is sauteed greens and I was wondering if you or other readers have any suggestions.

i tweaked around your recipe since i didn't have all the ingredients to make them just as they are here, but i wanted to say thanks for the inspiration. they turned out great!

other than the ingredient mods that i didn't have (why do i not keep celery around? curses!) i added a bit more spice to them since i'm not cooking for little people: a jalapeno pepper and more considerable dose of siracha, and we loved them.

Made these tonite. They were delicious plain, but next time I will eat them in a pita with lettuce and vegannaise. My 2 year old even ate one dipped in ketchup, of course. Thank you for all the awesome recipes.

I made them tonight and it was so great ! My boyfriend has eaten something like 5 patties (that's a lot of oil, I hope his liver wont give up !)and was fully satisfied. I had some cumin and serve them with mango chutney. So pleasant in the mouth !

I have translate your recipe put it on my blog, for french vegan ! I hope they will enjoy as much as me !

WOW! Great picture and great recipe. Definitely kid friendly, I always havemy little ones in mind! I will be making this for sure! Just discovered your blog and I am so glad I did! Looking forward to reading more!

To the people who said they don't hold together: I used to have the same problem with falafel (which is very similar to this dish). Then I figured out what I was doing wrong. It's very important that the oil is HOT (not smoking, but hot enough that water sizzles) before you put the chickpea dough on the pan. If the oil is hot, the patty will stay together.

I made these and they were delicious! I dipped them in a mixed of veganaise and buffalo wing sauce and I thought that when really well with the patties. Mine, however, did not turn out looking like yours, maybe I didn't use enough oil.

Wonderful texture, but yes, they definitely do need kicking up a notch. I prepared for some vegan friends with an improvized frisee/slaw of radicchio and carrot, but I think some sort of remoulade would be great as well.

Thanks for the great idea. I improvised from the pantry with great results. I used half chick peas and half black beans, shallots instead of celery, and added a little cumin and extra hot sauce. I didn't have any corn starch, and using 3T. flour seemed to bind them up just fine. I just discovered your blog this week and am really enjoying it. Thank you for sharing your recipes!

Hello Vegan Dad,I love this site, amazingly cool. Reading the comments had me laughing out loud. Somebody asked if they could use dried chick peas and vegan dad, says, yes cooked chick peas are a must. Killin me. i love this guy. And all the excitement over the fake meat comment. Come on, most people think vegans are totally nuts. you must be used to that by now. Keep up the good work vegan dad.

I'm not vegan (heck, I'm not even vegetarian), but I've made a few of your recipes now, in an attempt to eat cleaner and healthier. They have all been fabulous! Even my two young boys loved the Chickpea Cakes! Thank you for all of the hard work you (and Vegan Mom) put into this blog and your recipes.

Excellent Thank you for such a nice patty just pulled them off my stove it made 12 well 13 but one is dinky my girl wanted to have one right away LOL she says they are very very good and she is a picky one. Thanks

I made these and they were simple and tasty. I served them with guacamole and salsa. If I make these again, I might try some canned green chiles instead of bell pepper and some garlic. I wonder what they're like baked, too. It's a good base, though. :)

MainstreamVegan.com said...Fantastic flavor and so easy to make. All 3 of my children loved them. I broiled some to reduce fat and they were great, crispy on outside and moist on inside. Didn't look as nice as sauteed cakes but worth the fat reduction. I made the batter in the morning then formed cakes and broiled just before dinner. Plan to serve as entree or as appetizers at parties. Thanks, Catherine

I made these for dinner tonight, made 6 and used them as hamburger patties with homemade whole wheat buns, tomato, and avocado. They were great! Even my meat loving OH loved them! I'm not all vegetarian, just trying to cut out a lot of the animal products I eat and opting for healthier alternatives. Thanks!-Amanda